County of Flanders

The County of Flanders was a historic territory of the Low Countries that existed from 918 to 1405/1795. After 862, the Counts of Flanders were among the twelve peers of the Kingdom of France (then known as West Francia), and their estates around Ghent, Burges, and Ypres formed one of the most affluent regions of Europe. Flanders was, at times, in open rebellion against the Kingdom of France, including the Battle of Courtrai; however, it would remain a part of France until 1384, when it became a part of the Burgundian Netherlands. The region of Flanders would then be passed to the Spanish Empire after the conquest of Burgundy and Flanders remained a part of the Spanish Netherlands and then the Austrian Netherlands until 1795, when the French Revolutionary Wars saw France take over the region.